The Unconscionability Principle

Chapter 7 concerns one of the most important developments in modern contract law: the emergence of the principle that an unconscionable contract is unenforceable. Two elements should figure in the determination whether a contract is unconscionable. The first element is the nature of the market on which the contract was made: contracts made on competitive markets are seldom unconscionable, but when contracts are made off-market or on noncompetitive markets the stage is set for unconscionability. The second element is whether the contract involved moral fault: regardless of the nature of the market on which a contract is made, a contract is not unconscionable without that element.